


Homesick

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: Partners [7]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: But when have I ever understood anything about why and how this series does what it does?, Established Relationship, Feels, Fluff, I have no idea why I'm suddenly hearing from Clara now, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23202310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: Steve and Clara have a late-night conversation about Danny. (Set just after my happy AU-verse version of 4X17)
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Series: Partners [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/105629
Comments: 13
Kudos: 335





	Homesick

**Author's Note:**

> Another flashback fic.

Steve opened his eyes, quite certain he heard footsteps downstairs.

He lay in bed a moment, trying to decide whether he needed to do anything about it. They had Grace and both of Danny’s parents in the house, so the odds were pretty good that it was a perfectly normal trip for a glass of water and a late night raid on the fridge. His security system was good enough to keep out at least the average burglar, and on top of all of that he currently had Danny wrapped around him. Going to check on the noise would mean peeling Danny off him, which would potentially waking him up. More pressingly, it would mean no longer having Danny wrapped around him.

But then he heard more footsteps, along with a slightly heavier sound, and Steve cursed inwardly. It probably wasn’t either of Danny’s parents, since they’d just recently had their big reunion and had definitely been making an uncomfortable amount of noise from their bedroom earlier. He already _knew_ Grace’s footsteps, and these definitely didn’t belong to her. And with his life, the kind of people who broke into his home were so rarely as simple as the average burglar.

For all he knew, it might even be his mother.

He gently began the process of extricating himself from Danny’s arms, which led to some muttered protests and eventually one eye cracking open. “What’s wrong?” Danny asked, the words sleep-slurred but mostly intelligible.

Steve leaned back down to press a kiss against his forehead. “Just checking on something. Go back to sleep.”

Danny’s gaze sharpened for a second. “Don’t get shot.”

Steve smiled a little. “I wouldn’t dare.”

He headed downstairs, instinct making him move more quietly than he might have otherwise. All the lights were still off, there was no sign that anything had been disturbed, and the footsteps had stopped. He scanned the area, wondering what could have accounted for…

He stopped when he saw the figure by the glass doors, staring out into the backyard in what Danny still referred to as the “classic brooding pose.” His heart stopped for a second – his mother would _absolutely_ break into his house just to brood – but it took only that long to realize the figure was wearing a pink bathrobe.

Not _his_ mother, then.

Gingerly, he walked over to stand beside her. “Mrs. Williams?” he asked quietly. “Are you okay?”

He half expected her to jump – Danny had clearly inherited his high-strung tendencies from his mother – but she just turned to look at him with a slightly melancholy smile. “I told you to call me Clara, Steve.”

Steve nodded, even though he suspected it would take awhile for him to regularly start following through on that particular quest. Right now, all his efforts were focusing on following through with her request not to call her ma’am. “I’ll try to remember that.”

She turned back to look out the window. “It’s really beautiful here.”

Steve tensed a little, hoping that wasn’t the lead up to a conversation about them moving here. They were perfectly nice people, but having them nearby made Danny about a hundred times more tense than he usually was. “It is.”

She smiled again, but it was still just as melancholy as it had been the first time. “My son’s never really been very good at enjoying beautiful places. He’s always too worried about things to let himself just sit back and soak in the view.”

The visit from Danny’s parents had given Steve some insights about that as well. He very carefully didn’t mention any of them. “We sit out on the chairs sometimes,” he offered instead, tentatively. “Just watching the sunset.”

Some of the melancholy eased out of her expression. “That’s nice to know.” Then she let out a breath. “It’s been like pulling teeth to get him to come home, these last few years. And every time he does, he’s so restless and itchy the whole time.”

Steve had no idea what to say to that. “He’s very proud of New Jersey,” he mentioned finally.

“Maybe, but it’s pretty clear he doesn’t actually want to _be_ there anymore.” She turned to look at Steve, something in her eyes Steve couldn’t quite read. “At first I thought it was because he was so busy with work. He was so stressed and miserable when he first got here, but even after he told us about joining 5-0 he always seemed to be doing _something_. Not that it’s much of a surprise – Danny’s always been so much like his dad. Just throws his whole heart and soul into the job.”

This was heading somewhere, Steve knew. He had to be careful. “Saved my life more than once.”

She held up a hand. “Please, no details. I figured out a long time ago that my life is easier when I have no idea what my boys are getting up to.” Then her expression shifted, and Steve realized he was being studied. “I should have known, just from the way he talks about you,” she said finally. “Any time I ask him how things are going, it's never more than a minute before both you and Grace get brought up. Even before you two got together, I always ended up hearing more about you two than I did about him.”

Steve swallowed, touched. “I’m sure the stuff about me was mostly rants.”

Her smile widened. “Sometimes.” Then her expression softened. “But it was other stuff, too. Any story he tries to tell usually ends up being about one or both of you. We’ll be talking about something else entirely, and I’ll hear about the opinion one or both of you have about something. His plans for the day always involve one or both of you.” She shook her head a little. “I don’t think he can help it. Ever since he came here, his life has been so bound up in the two of you that you’re what he has to talk about.” She let out a breath. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard him sound so happy, even when he was ranting.”

Now his eyes were burning. “He’s made my life so much better, Mrs. Williams,” he said, voice thick.

Clara blinked at that, and in the moonlight he could see the sheen of tears in her eyes. “I’m sure he has. He’s good at that.” She wiped her eyes. “And I know he loves Chin and Kono, who are both such lovely people. But he also loves me, and his dad, and his sisters, and we’re all still firmly back in New Jersey.”

She met Steve’s eyes, a level of focus and intensity in them that Steve had never seen from her before. “But he gets so restless in New Jersey now, because no matter who’s out there all my son really wants to do is go home.” She crossed the small distance between them, lifting a hand to smooth it against his cheek. “I know it’s probably impossible to coordinate your schedules, but come out to New Jersey with Danny sometime. Bring Grace.” Her smile was happy and sad, all in the same moment. “It’d be nice to see him feel at home out there again.”

She gave his cheek a gentle pat, then headed back upstairs. Steve watched her go, swallowing the lump in his throat, then wiped his eyes and went upstairs himself. Danny looked asleep as he slipped into bed, though he immediately shifted so he could wrap himself around Steve again.

A second later, he cracked one eye open. “So no shooting?” Before Steve could respond, his eyes narrowed. He brushed a fingertip underneath Steve’s eye, swearing softly. “Shit. You’ve been crying.” He pushed himself up on one elbow. “What happened?”

Steve pulled him back down, wrapping his arms around him. “Emotions ambushed me while I was getting a glass of water. No big deal.”

Danny stayed tense a moment. “Traumatic emotions?”

Steve pressed a kiss against his hair. “Good emotions,” he murmured. “Really, really good emotions.”

“Which are probably very new for you, given how the entire rest of your life has gone before this point.” Only then did Danny relax against him. “Now go to sleep. No more big emotions until the alarm goes off.”

“I’ll do my best.” Still, he tightened his arms around Danny. “Thank you for being here.”

Danny pressed a kiss against his shoulder, voice already fogging with sleep. “No place else I’d rather be.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


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